The agreement is designed to pool each company’s creativity, expertise and production facilities to create cross-genre programming for the South African, UK and international markets.

Urban Brew Studios, with eight fully equipped studios, produces over 50 hours of original content per week for local platforms including SABC, DStv and e.tv. Urban Brew is also a channel broadcaster, managing and producing content for domestic channels including Soweto TV, Glow TV and 1 KZN TV, and broadcasts over 500 hours of content per week.

Urban Brew Studios also has a strong track record in adapting international formats for South Africa. BBC format Friends Like These is now in its record 14th season.

The two companies will be developing shared IP and entering into option agreements for their respective programme formats. The first of which sees Urban Brew Studios option Zig Zag’s Strike a Match format for the South African market.

Strike a Match is Zig Zag’s studio show where the game is to weed out the real couples from a hilarious line-up of misfits. Contestants have to try and keep their relationships a secret when being grilled by a comedic panel.

Zig Zag has taken an international option for Urban Brew’s The Virus Hunter that follows the world’s leading virologists as they travel to the world’s most remote areas to pre-empt the next deadly virus. Zig Zag and Urban Brew Studios are also co-creators of iServed and Survived, a re-enactment series that explores modern-day heroes serving mankind despite the risk to their own lives.

The agreement also sees the companies partner on the development of a production carousel hub in South Africa for large studio based game show formats.

Zig Zag and Urban Brew Studios also plan to develop co-productions on factual entertainment series, offer production and post services on South African location shoots, and harness Urban Brew Studios technology capabilities in apps and second-screen development.

“Urban Brew is truly one of the world’s best kept secrets and without doubt the leading content and production businesses in South Africa. I have long felt that as a country and a region Southern Africa has been under-represented in the world stage and in a creative leader like Markus Davies they have someone who understands the impact they can make. In an emerging market we see the potential to both sell our formats but also to help take their formats and bring them to the international market. We already have our first projects together and I hope this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship,” says Zig Zag CEO, Danny Fenton.

“We are extremely excited to be partnering with Zig Zag Productions. Working with an international player that produces for channels like BBC, ITV, Fox and Discovery is going to bolster Urban Brew’s offering and in-house capabilities. Urban Brew Studios is confident that this relationship will bring with it mutually beneficial opportunities to create cross genre programming globally and this ties in perfectly with the vision for Urban Brew Studios, which is to be the leading African content creator providing innovative global entertainment solutions and services,” says Trish Taylor, CEO of Urban Brew Studios.

Zig Zag Productions recently announced a development and distribution deal with Toronto-based distributor Blue Ant Media Inc.

For more information, visit www.zigzag.uk.com and www.urbanbrew.co.za.